U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., today announced a new tax credit for Minnesota employers who hire veterans. The credit can be as high as $9,600 per veteran for for-profit employers, or up to $6,240 for tax-exempt organizations.

“With the unemployment rate for Minnesota’s post-9/11 veterans at three times the state average, we have to do everything we can to create jobs for them after their service is done,” Sen. Franken said in a news release. “This tax credit will help create opportunities to put our veterans back to work by providing an incentive for Minnesota businesses to hire them. I challenge every employer to recognize the invaluable skills and training that our veterans offer.”

Employers who hire veterans who have been unemployed for more than six months are eligible for a new tax credit of up to $5,600 per veteran hired; if the veteran has been unemployed for between four weeks and six months, the employer’s tax credit is up to $2,400. Employers who hire veterans with service-related disabilities may be eligible for the maximum credit of $9,600, which is an expansion of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC).

The new tax credits and the expansion of the WOTC were passed as part of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, which was enacted last November. The IRS has recently released the guidance and forms that employers can use to claim the newly-expanded tax credit for hiring veterans. Click here for more details.